WASHINGTON, DC — When I made the leap of faith from being a crime writer and investigative reporter to healthcare management, career management was much less complicated. In fact, I was oblivious.
Oh my, how times have changed.
Today, the healthcare management job market has reached a “new normal” plateau – there are fewer leadership opportunities and the competition is more intense, Baby Boomer retirements notwithstanding. The tightening in the numbers of available choice management positions is not really new. This trend has been developing over the last 10 years. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA), value-based reimbursement, and population health management are all forcing hospitals and other healthcare providers to adapt to a new business model that will result in fewer inpatients and more industry consolidation. The latter is significant in how the healthcare job market will work in the future.
Dallas offers an example: with several hospital closings and mergers, smaller free-standing hospitals that frequently offered a job gateway for lesser experienced administrators and managers are either no more or are part of bigger systems. The number of hospital job employment portals – potential employers – has declined significantly. While this has been offset somewhat by the growth in the number of outpatient centers and home care services, many of those are part of national chains that control hiring through enterprise employment platforms.
With a growth in the number of master’s programs in healthcare administration, the market is flooded with people with little or no experience.
Healthcare executives, now, more than at any other time in this industry’s short history, better have a career vision and a plan if they expect to achieve their professional goals because working hard and producing results may not be enough to ensure a fulfilling – financially or professionally – career. A best effort laissez faire approach to these goals is a fool’s errand. If you have not had a career transition in which you had to actively look for a job in the last three years, know this: many of the old rules that you knew and followed, have changed, or are changing at a stunning rate of speed.
Here are five points to consider:
If you gave any questions, feel free to email me. I will be happy to share an executive recruiter’s perspective.
© 2021 John Gregory Self